We were very fortunate to have reality smog free days in Beijing but when we flew down to Xian which is a two hour flight from Beijing we were greeted with very heavy pollution in which we did not see blue sky once and made Xian a gloomy city.
The language barrier was stronger in Xian and getting around in a taxi was hard work as little public transport is available for a spread- out city. Even with the directions written in Chinese, the taxi driver had to ring people to find directions and at times, I felt that this also helped them to increase the cab fares.
Our main reason for visiting Xian as well as the plane load of tour groups was to see the Terracotta Warriors which are located about an hour out of the city and we could catch one of the many buses that stops off there.
Xian has a thriving Muslim quarter that was founded in the 7th century and now is a thriving area full of market stalls and places to eat. Along with countless noodle shops there were many sweet and snack sellers and we tried a sesame and peanut brittle which was very moreish.
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View from our hotel room |
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Bell Tower |
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Drum Tower |
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Muslim Quarter |
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Muslim Quarter |
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Making the Nut brittle |
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Ready to cut into strips |
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Dim sum on the street |
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Mung Bean cakes |
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Delivery of bones for stock |
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